Marveling at the Beast– The Shadow of EAR/ONS

In the Book of Revelations John marveled at the sight of the beast. It isn’t adulation. It is marvel. For a brief moment, that nanosecond flirt with exultation, so do we marvel at anyone who acts outside of the box of the conformity we live in. In our amazement, we are trying to understand it. This is to marvel. When it is an arrogant killer, we not only marvel but we become consumed with the mystery.

An audacious serial killer is the beast. But he is also a mystery. John beheld the Beast. There was no mystery. But for serial killers, well, we do not see them. An audacious one captivates by making us marvel. But he intrigues us by being unknown. We love nothing more than a good mystery and thriller. To hunt a serial killer is to live a real life thriller.

Perhaps this is why so many have an interest in some of the most inexplicable crime sprees in history. Jack the Ripper is still the focus of attention even over 125 years after his audacious crime spree. The Zodiac has joined his ranks. EAR/ONS– the Night Predator– has now entered this level.

Perhaps I am fortunate that mystery captivates me more than any desire for a thrill. As I have said many times, I like to solve mystery, not just wallow in one. But I must admit to a certain amount of obsession over the first few years of tracking EAR. I had to uncover as lot of territory. I had to devote a lot of mental energy. I had to stand amazed and marvel at how this phantom brat pulled off his crimes and was never in the dragnet. At times he seemed clumsy; at others he seemed a deadly, calculating snake. But I had to stalk the ultimate stalker.

I can now follow the trail of EAR/ONS more at a distance. It was a relief to get the foundation over. I never had to relay the foundation of a crime spree before. I could come along and analyze what had been compiled. I could find new clues and follow these to new evidence. But those cases I tackled had lots of official information released to the public.

EAR/ONS was not that way. He was preserved in a semi-fictional account by one of the detectives, then another tried to remember enough details to add to the information. Ironic that this is how the number one crime spree in history came to be preserved, and it is out of this medium that it has slowly grown to become what it is. It is within this foggy world I had to stalk. Not to take any credit for myself, but it is a fact that when I likened him to the “real life Michael Myers” it clicked. People could identify with what he was– unnatural, unstoppable, the embodiment of cold, emotiveless evil. I walked in the shoes of Dr. Loomis, in a way. I came to appreciate what this evil form was all about. I walked in his footsteps. I studied the maniac from his pattern.

Wherever I went in pursuit, I got the number one compliment from law enforcement: “I can’t help you, but I’m not going to stop you.” It may seem like a movie line, but it is said in real life. It was a pass. It let me walk around neighborhoods freely. “If they call I’ll tell them I know who you are.” It works both ways. I’m obliged to tell them when I have something like a silver bullet. So far it has not turned up. There are those with badges who know who my prime POI is and the nest I’m working within. But it is up to me to sink or swim.

It isn’t easy to dig through the dust of time. A badge really doesn’t help. Cops aren’t trained in the pursuit of history. They use media announcements and press conferences to try and get history to come talk to them. Nothing wrong with that. But I have to delve into the stuff. 40 years is a lot of dirt, and a lot of cops never heard of EAR/ONS either. He was so careful he deftly walked into history just as skillfully as he had stalked through the night 40 years ago. It has taken 6 years and lots of research, pavement pounding, and analysis just to bring him back from history. I have succeeded in materializing the phantom. This actually isn’t much for 6 years of work.

Now to give form to the shadow.

EAR is still gaining in momentum. The Night Predator section of my Q Files is still the most popular section. They come from all around the world to read it. But that is not enough. I don’t want to cement in popular culture another Ripper and let it go nowhere from there but into a real life comic strip. This case must be solved.

The days ahead are going to be busy– I have two books coming due, as you all know, several other feelers are out on other cases such as the Shadow Slayer or Phantom of Colonial Parkway, the Doodler, The Phantom of Texarkana, and The Cleveland Torso Killer, and other topics. Moreover, I’ve been asked to star in my own television series. It’s not about True Crime, but largely about a single topic that I investigate. I’m not one to angle to be in TV. I don’t care for it, but the request is from some of the best people in the “reality TV” business. So I must take it seriously despite my reticence.

Within this helter skelter of schedules to come, I will still be pursuing EAR with as much intensity as I can. I’m focused and narrowed in on my target. If I only succeed in eliminating another POI that is at least something. We pick up the pieces and move on. But I doubt we should have to move far. All the clues and evidence speak of the nest of auto-wrecking that I uncovered and those within orbit around it. I have told you all it won’t be an easy task. EAR was the unsuspected so long ago. History is bringing his crime spree to light, but history has also given him a lot of time to devolve into the shadows. Considering what a phantom he was, this is saying something. I am grabbing at a shadow and trying to hold on.

In a sense EAR/ONS is not Michael Myers. He has no name and no past. Dr. Loomis marveled and was then frightened by looking into the abyss of evil incarnate. But we cannot do that with EAR. We can only stalk his footsteps and examine the carnage he left behind. Yes, we should marvel at the beast. He left about 65 victims in his wake, many capable of speaking to this day. But few wish to do so. Silence– fear— protects him even to this day. We marvel at his shadow. He was such a beast that just his shadow has inspired our marvel.

We must all be vigilant. We must all be ready to consider every clue again.

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Since 1990 Gian J. Quasar has investigated a broad range of mysterious subjects, from strange disappearances to serial murders, earning in that time the unique distinction of being likened to “the real life Kolchak.” However, he is much more at home with being called The Quester or Q Man. “He’s bloody eccentric, an historian with no qualifications who sticks his nose into affairs and gets results.” He is the author of several books, one of which inspired a Resolution in Congress.